In Stride Physical Therapy Online Store

It's amazing how busy you get working full time for your own business. I've been meeting with people from the Fremont Chamber of Commerce and with advertising sales people from different publications in the afternoons. On Friday I spent 2 hours talking to an insurance person from the National Associate for the Self Employed (N.A.S.E.). Finally I got some new insurance set up for Talli and I that has more guarantees and flexibility than Kaiser. All in all, the meetings have been very good and we've already gotten more business from the Chamber of Commerce. I also got a store set up for the clinic at Cafe Press: In Stride's Store. There are shirts, cups, hats and a bag on there. It's still in production, but coming along nicely. More details to follow. - David van Sunder

Graduation

Whew! What a weekend. Talli and I got to Seattle with no problems, and got to her family's house and got some sleep. The next morning though I got up and was having periodic muscle spasms below my left shoulder blade. All I had to do was move a certain way or cough or sneeze or burp and WHAM! my left side of my back would just tighten up so tight I sometimes was bent over and if my knees were bent I found myself on my knees. So, not very pleasant. Talli's mom's graduation went well. The speakers were ok with the exception of the keynote speaker who was terrible. He talked way too long, was way too monotone and managed to slam many different groups of medical professionals, including naturopaths of which Talli's sister Karen is one. That made for some interesting expressions on her face. The graduation was followed my a buffet dinner and dancing. The food was good. The dancing was good, by my wife. The music was not so great, but then again, I couldn't dance unless you call convulsing, dancing.

A Brave New World

Finally! A couple big things to be happy about. First of all I woke up this morning for the first time since Saturday without being drenched in sweat. That was a refreshing change, let me tell you. It feels pretty gross to wake up drenched in sweat. Second, I am at the client, who I will still keep nameless for my last day! Talk about happiness. I gave them some documents, put some stuff up on their networks, put a folder together for them and nobody is interested in me in the slightest. Very strange behavior, but not a problem. I got to clean up my computer to hand into the consulting company who is contracting me to work out here, catch up on some email and write this blog of course. I'm going to leave in a couple hours to get ready for my trip to Seattle. My mother-in-law is graduating from acupuncture school this weekend so Talli and I are heading on up there. It should be an interesting and hopefully relaxing weekend. At least I get to hop on a plane for the first time in 6 months. A long time for me. I used to fly every week for work. (Those days are behind me now, too. Thankfully.) The big question on my mind is when next will I hear from my irrational client? Other questions are...How relaxing is this weekend going to be? The in-laws can get a bit rowdy sometimes. What will Monday feel like when I start to settle into my new job/life and the new routine? I can't wait to find out! Heading for the weekend and the future! - David

Fever

Today I woke up again in a sweat! I guess I had another fever which broke just before I woke up. Guess that means the virus isn't gone yet, but then again, I wasn't expecting to be cured yet. I have to admit that I am feeling a little bit better though today. My neck isn't so tight or painful as it was yesterday. I've been working from home today, which is more productive than working at the client I have to say. The client wouldn't agree, but they don't have to accept the truth for it to be the truth. Which is good, because they always refuse to accept the truth and live in the fiction that whatever they say is the truth is the truth even if, actually especially if, they just made it up. My life as a Siebel consultant is finally wrapping up. It couldn't come soon enough. The money has been ok lately, but clients just get stupider as the economy stagnates. They start imagining that they can get skilled work for nothing. They also start imagining that the impossible is possible if they just complain enough. Then there is the belief that the customer is always right! Of course the customer kept telling us we could do 4 weeks worth of work in 1 week. When we wrapped it up in 3 weeks and a couple days, they were upset it took so long. I just wanted to let them have it. They couldn't put together a list of five values they needed for a web pick list in 4 weeks. Plus they wasted 4 hours of our time twice a week for the full 4 weeks, during which they changed their minds several times. So they wasted a day a week. Nice, huh. This kind of stupidity is actually becoming more and more prevelant nowadays. People seemed to believe that everyone was just wasting weeks when they should have been working and now they can REALLY get their money's worth. Oh, well. I've had enough. Anyone who wants the projects that I would have taken is welcome to them. I'm moving on next week and I'm really excited. Lots of networking and marketing ahead for me. Plus I'll be doing a complete overhaul of my wife's Physical Therapy Clinic's website. www.instridept.com Well back to work for me. My late lunch break is over. Until next time, cut the bull. Let's be real. - David

Strange People

I've been sick for a few days so, I went to see a doctor yesterday. He had a bunch of bloodwork done to see if I had anything serious. Today I got a call from him and he said that it was just what he thought. I have a virus. It should run its course and I'll be ok either this week or next. This virus has kept me out of work the whole week. Normally that would be ok, but I'm doing contract work now so I only get paid when I work. Luckily I've been able to work a little from home. The other thing is that it's my last week at this gig I'm on and they really want me there. Here's the kicker. They don't really need me there since they've locked us out of all the servers. I don't really want to go since they spend their time complaining all the time. Long story short, I'm going to try to do all my work remotely via conference calls and documents. I'm not going to get in 40 hours. It's going to save them money. They'll get the same benefits as if I was there. I won't infect their work force and they'll be upset. Go figure, that's the way they are. The postings should get more interesting as I transfer out of this job into the business that my wife and I started. More on that later... - David